KAT Gives Ant, Timberwolves Some NBA Finals Flowers

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Jun 13, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; New York Knicks (former Minnesota Timberwolves) center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) walks off the court with the trophy after the Knicks defeat the San Antonio Spurs during game five of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Timberwolves did not win an NBA Championship this year. Of course, that’s not a surprise. Even after consecutive Western Conference Finals appearances, few expected this to be the Wolves’ season.

That being said, even fewer people saw a 2026 NBA Finals future that ended with Timberwolves former No. 1 overall draft pick Karl-Anthony Towns raising the Larry O’Brien Trophy as a member of the New York Knicks.

But man… here we are.

Not KAT’s best game… but it didn’t matter

Game 5 wasn’t Karl’s best Finals game against the San Antonio Spurs, and that’s putting it lightly. Towns managed just 2 points in 22 minutes, on 1 of 7 shooting and 10 rebounds. He also turned the ball over 5 times and fouled out early.

In fact, KAT was the only Knicks starter who owned a negative +/- last night, which helped him underachieve his first negative “Game Score” (-2.1) of the postseason, over at basketball-reference.com.

Towns’ worst Game Score prior to Saturday was a 7.7 he mustered in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals vs Cleveland. His lowest Game Score of the NBA Finals, before Game 5, was 11.3 (Game 3).

Of course, his own individual performance was the least of Karl-Anthony Towns’ worries when he was celebrating an NBA Championship with Knicks teammates, following last night’s 94-90 elimination victory over the Spurs. That’s not KAT’s style.

Karl Anthony Towns shouts out Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards

Instead, he gave credit to everyone around him, including his deceased mother, who passed tragically in April of 2020. He also credited the Spurs for a great series and a bright future.

But most notable back in Minnesota was when Karl shouted out his former teammates with the Minnesota Timberwolves, especially making a point to mention his “brother” to this day, Anthony Edwards — who he even facetimed from the winning locker after.

“A huge shoutout to all my teammates, before coming here. Shoutout to my brother, Anthony Edwards — talking to him all the time. Those guys made me better. They made me a better leader, made me a better player, made me the man I am today. Forever grateful for them.”

Karl Anthony Towns shouts out former Timberwolves teammates, especially Anthony Edwards

Related: KAT Officially Moving Out of Minnesota

This is a bittersweet moment for any Timberwolves fan who has any shred of empathy remaining in their soul, after 35+ years of mostly misery. But if we go back in time, the Minnesota basketball depression was at its all-time peak, before drafting Karl-Anthony Towns.

After the Ricky Rubio + Kevin Love era ended in pure disaster, it was landing the No. 1 pick and Flip Saunders selecting KAT that forever changed the trajectory of this organization.

Minnesota sports pain remains undefeated

Despite plenty of rough patches and heavy criticism from fans, media (myself included) and other players around the league for most of his career, Towns fell in love with the State of Minnesota.

Related: Latest Trade Rumors Tie Timberwolves to Giannis and Kyrie… but Barely

When Wolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly told KAT he had been traded to his home-state Knicks, Karl wasn’t celebrating. Instead, he was crushed. Even after months/years had passed, Karl could be found watching or talking about the Timberwolves, while attending various events around New York.

If anybody deserved a championship after leaving Minnesota, outside of Kevin Garnett, it’s Karl-Anthony Towns. We will now spend the next decade arguing over whether the Timberwolves should have traded KAT.

That will wait for another article. Because no matter which side of that fence you are on, no matter how poorly Towns played in Game 5, it’s extremely difficult to watch him celebrate an NBA Title in a Knicks uniform, instead of the Timberwolves.

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